According to a U.S. Department of Justice
survey, every two and a half minutes someone is
sexually assaulted. Roughly three-fourths of all
college-aged women will experience at least one
form of sexual assault. The majority of these
victims are vastly unprepared to defend
themselves.

John Sanders, Public Safety officer and
president of the Criminal Justice Association,
is taking steps to lower these statistics.

“I personally feel it's good for someone to have
a basic knowledge of self defense.” Sanders
said.

Following this rationale, Public Safety and the
CJA will offer a month-long self-defense
course in April. The course will focus on mental
and physical preparedness as well as methods of
neutralizing attackers. If successful, the
course could become a regular occurrence at the
University of Arkansas at Monticello.

“I
think a self-defense course is an excellent idea
on a college campus,” Criminal Justice professor
Tammy Garland said. “Freshmen women are more
likely to be victimized than any other group.
They will more often put themselves in dangerous
situations.”

Classes are tentatively scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday nights from 6:30 to 8
p.m.